Leading.  Teaching.  Administrating.

We each have a gift from God which we have been entrusted with.  When we discover this gift, there’s excitement and enthusiasm to use it, like the two servants entrusted with two and five bags of money, respectively, found in Matthew 25:14-30.  They invested and earned, each winning praises from their master.

However, not all of us feel this eagerness, like the servant entrusted with one bag of money.  He hid it and he explained to his master that he did so because he was afraid he’d lose it.

How has fear stopped you from using your gift? Maybe it’s a voice that whispers, “You can’t do it.”  “You’re not qualified.”

Or maybe you used your gift and then, you heard, “We’ve found someone else to do it.”  “We’re changing how we do things, so you’ll no longer be needed.”  This leads to a hard stop of using this gift anymore.

I used to speak in public when I was a teenager.  I was comfortable and confident doing it because it felt natural.  I realized it was a gift God gave me.  Then, after marriage and children, I stopped because I was afraid I became “too old”.  I was also afraid of the new environment I found myself in: a fish from a pond now in an ocean.

The thing about the gift God gives us is that when we are obedient to using it, others are encouraged and blessed, which points them to Him.  When we don’t use it, we are hiding that light God wants us to shine.

When I understood this revelation, I released my fears.  With God’s help, I have begun to use my gift again with obedience, trust, and fearlessness.

The following is an excerpt sung by a lovely lady, Sequoyah, at my Church’s women’s brunch.  She is typically found faithfully serving in our Children’s ministry, so this beautiful worship was a great surprise to us all! No longer a hidden gem.  Now, she is one who has been spoken into to have courage to operate in her gifting for the glory of God.

~Joyce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NDWfPCn-gE&feature=youtu.be